Happily ever after
by koralina
Summary: Some scenes from James and Juliet life after vending machine.
1. Your place

**A/N**:Hello guys! It has been some time since my last story and I honestly wasn't sure there would be any. But I missed writing about them and I had great support from** Beenie** and **GencoOliveOil**. They made me change my mind and even gave some suggestions. Well,** Beenie** advised me to take it in small steps and **GencoOliveOil **asked for some post vending mashine/post church scenes. Well, this is short shots about James and Juliet after their reunion. I know there are a lot of stories and I tried not to copy them even if subconsciously, but I still have many questions I'd want my answers. So here we are. I have few scenes in my mind already but feel free to ask for something you'd want to see.

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He was with her. That was the only thing she could think about right now. All the how, why and what if could be answered later. This moment was just for her and for him. She wanted to touch him, to hug him, to kiss him. No, she needed that. She needed to feel his hands on her, to smell his unique aroma, to listen to his gruff voice. She felt so dependent on him right now that it would physically hurt her to step away from him.

"Slow down, Blondie." She was so close to him she couldn't see his face but she was pretty sure he was smiling. "We don't want to spent time in jail for inappropriate behavior in a public place, do we?"

"Of course" She blushed looking around and for the first time noticed that they were still in the hospital and it was merely a miracle nobody had ran into them yet.

"Your place or mine?" He asked nudging her toward elevators feeling the same necessity to reassure himself with any phisical contact he could think about but trying his best to stay cool.

"Mine is twenty minutes from here, yours?"

His was at least an hour away and who knew in what shape after his drunking bout the night before. She didn't need to know any of that.

"Show the way Doc" He smiled than stopped. "Uh-huh, have to find another nickname for you. This just doesn't feel good."


	2. Time for themselves

"Son of a bitch!"

Juliet was startled from her doze. She looked around not understanding James' reaction. Was it something in her house? Did he see Jack's photo or David's? She should have told him about them long before and...

She stopped noticing that he wasn't angry but amused. That definitely wasn't the reaction she expected.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Jinbo. He knew."

Guess she wasn't fully awake because she had problems following him.

"What did Jin know?"

"This." He pointed around. "I met him in the hospital and he had that knowing smile on his face. He knew. He remembered."

"That's great news. " She smiled widely herself. "He deserved to have the life he dreamt about."

"Yes. After all those years... Wait a minute!" He jerked. "Sun! She was the one being shot. That's why I came to the hospital. Is she alright? I have to check on her. Remembering or not she can still be in danger."

He moved to stand up but Juliet stopped him. "I'm sure she's alright. Jin can take care of her and I think they'd appreciate some time alone."

"Like I'd appreciate some time with you not being worried about others well-being!" She added half jokingly but failed to hide how desperate she was to keep him around.

"I'm here now and I'm not gonna leave. You're stuck with me Blondie. Forever." He whispered into her ear while planting kisses to her earlobe, neck, chest making sure she had no time or willpower to think about anything except for them being together here and now.


	3. New life

"Have you met anyone except from Kwon's? Do you know who are they in this life?" James asked lazily, enjoying their afternoon rest.

"You realize that we can meet them so you don't need to interrogate me, right?" She chuckled. It still felt a little unreal for him to be a real cop.

"Nah, I'm good here. Just being curious nothing more."

"Of course you are. " She smiled leaning to kiss him passionately.

"Not that I'm against your way of thinking but why are you stalling?" He looked at her suspiciously. "Something I need to know about you, Blondie? You came out of closet while I wasn't around."

"You see right through me, Sheriff. " She hit him playfully but he could see it was an act. Somehow this Juliet wasn't that good with poker face.

"Seriously, Jules. What's going on? I thought we agreed not to have secrets that could explode the world."

"It's nothing serious. Just so strange to realize we have two so different lives to remember."

"Yeah, who could have said you'd be a doctor."

"I'm actually trying here and you're not helping it at all. " She frowned at him.

"Okay, sorry, no more interruptions." He lifted his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Tell me about this new life of yours."

"Well, there isn't too much to tell you. I'm still an Ob\Gyn specialist. Once again I let someone else choose my career that was how I ended as a doctor and not a researcher. Oh, and Rachel don't have cancer this time. Your turn."

"See, it wasn't that hard." He winked at her."I'm a cop. Decided to get my revenge the right way this time." He paused uncomfortably. He was glad she had her sister safe and sound just he wasn't that lucky with his past. "Oh, and I have that annoying partner of mine you should meet. The guy just can't shut up about his girls."

"Sounds familiar." She laughed recalling all those evenings she had had to hear the same rambling.

"Of course, it does. It's Miles after all. Guess some things never change."

"Miles, really?" She laughed. "Just your luck to stick with that guy again or maybe it's a sign. Should I go out of the way of your love?"

"Ha-ha, very funny, wise-ass. Don't tell me you have nobody from that life in this one. Because there's no way you could manage to avoid Saint Jack for so long. Just remembered that he was the one to point me where Sun could have been."

"Well, about Jack in my life..."

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**A/N:** Okay, there are some things that just should be said. Her marriage with Jack is one of them.

Thank you for reading and don't forget to review ;)


	4. Kids and problems

"You're telling me you have a son here?" James looked at her shocked.

"Yes, name's David. I'll introduce you later for now he should be with his father. "

"Who just happened to be Jack?" James muttered trying to process news. " Talking about signs…"

"If anything it's the sigh that we weren't supposed to be together. Divorce and so on. What about you?"

"What about me? Do I have kids with Jack?"

He didn't know why he suddenly felt the need to raise his walls. It was just so familiar. Once again he got the girl after Doc and he knew no matter what he was nothing compare to him.

"No." She sighed. She should have expected that reaction. After all she was the one he told with about his doubts increasing even more because of Kate's indecisiveness. "Do you have kids?"

"Nope, not in this life. Had no time for that kind of shit during Academy."He shrugged. "Guess Cassidy had had to find another con to get pregnant."

"I see." Maybe talking about his past wasn't the best idea right now. "Do you want something to eat?" That way they both could have some time to think.

"Sounds good." He nodded making no motion to follow her.

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**A/N:** I know I was going to have it fluffy and all but James simply couldn't react cool to that fact.


	5. Men's talk

Juliet was still in the kitchen when James' phone ringed.

"Hey. Where the hell are you? What's going on?" Miles yelled the second James answered.

"Calm down. Everything's okay. I've met Juliet and we…"

"What?! Are you kidding me?" Miles sounded even louder. "I'm waiting for you in precinct, worrying that you might be shot or something because of that Korean woman and you're telling me you aren't even with her but with some chick you've met on your way there."

"Shut up Enos. You know Juliet is more than a chick."

He was annoyed with Miles. Why should he act like he didn't understand a thing, like he wasn't there when James had buried her?

"Look, Jim." Miles sighed. "I'm glad you've finally met your right woman and so on but we have work to do and like hell I'm doing it alone while you're enjoying yourself with that Juliet girl. So bring your ass here or I'll drag you myself."

Something wasn't right. Miles didn't sound like he used to. James wished it was some kind of bad joke from his part but deep inside he knew Miles didn't remember. He was his partner and his friend but he didn't know a thing about the Island.

"Hey, Ford, are you there?" Miles asked not getting a response.

"Yeah, I'll be there in half an hour." James muttered still trying to understand why for once in all his lifetimes fate couldn't let him have his whole family with him. Juliet meant everything to him but Miles was an important part of him too. He was one of the reasons James managed to go on through his life after escaping the Island, to make it up for Cassidy, to fix his life though he could be here now. He didn't want to think that Miles couldn't be here with him.

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**A/N:** There's time for Miles to come into the picture because I still don't understand why Desmond is one of their soulmates but Miles isn't.


	6. So much to say

"I don't understand why he doesn't remember. " James yelled in frustration.

"Maybe he needs more time. Jack still doesn't remember too. " She tried to soothe him.

"Of course you just need to bring Jackass into. Are you worried he would be upset with us together?"

"That's enough. I understand that you have right to be upset with me being Jack's wife and I gave you time. But I'm not going to put up with all your shit anymore. Jack is in my past and I can't change that. You just have to remember I'm with you now and not with Jack."

She glared at James daring him to say something anything but he was quiet.

"Now about Miles" She said coldly still hurt from his treatment. "There's a reason we can remember our previous life and" she choked "our death. I think this world is some kind of limbo and at some moment we have to leave it and move on. Maybe there is something we have to fix until we can go. Or we have to wait for our soul mates. I'm still not sure about that part."

"Bullshit and I don't even talk about that limbo thing. You say we aren't soul mates with Miles. After all those years! But we can be with Shephard." He frowns from the thought.

"I thought we agreed to leave Jack out of this." She sighed tiredly.

He looked at her and cringed from the way she avoided looking at him.

"I'm sorry. " He started suddenly very aware of what an ass he had been to her. "It was unfair for me to vent out on you. It's just hard to accept that he had his chance with you, the real one, not in some hippy settlement and he let you leave even hurt you."

"It's okay." She said still not looking at him. "You have right to …"

"No I don't. " He stopped her. "Juliet, you're wonderful person and you deserve much better than me or Jackass. You should remember that."

He didn't know what had happened here but he once again could see that broken Juliet he had had a glimpse on while talking about her ex. For Doc's sake he hoped he hadn't done anything to her or he was going to regret that.

"Hit me." He stood into her line of vision.

"What?"

"I apologized but that didn't help. So I don't see another way for you to forgive me. Hit me. I'm sure you still have that hell of a blow of yours."

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**A/N:** A little longer chapter for you because I'm not sure whether I'll be able to post soon or not. And the question is "do you want Juliet to go with his suggestion and hit him?"


	7. Change of plans

It took more than thirty minutes for James to reach Miles considering that Juliet had chosen to kiss him instead of kicking his ass and he had had to force himself out. So he half expected Miles to start yelling at him again but found him peacefully working through his crossword puzzle.

"Wonderful!" James grumbled. "You're pulling me out of the house just to watch you doing nothing!"

"What?!" Miles looked at him confused by his words.

"Don't play with me Enos. I'm so not in the mood considering I could be with Juliet right now."

"Juliet? Oh, that chick you were talking about." Miles grinned. "If she's so good then what are you doing here?"

James sighed, feeling like he was in a bad dream here.

"Because somebody told me he couldn't manage on his own." He pointed out fighting the urge to strangle Miles.

"Somebody? Oh, you're talking about my call. Sorry man. I did overreact. It appeared that girl was perfectly fine and she didn't want us anywhere around. Technically we're still working on that case but there's no need in rushing things. So why not to enjoy yourself a little?" He chuckled returning to his puzzle.

"That's all? She doesn't want us in her business and we're just going away. That's not how things have been before. Hell, you'd be the first one to keep working no matter what." James looked at him suspiciously. Something was very, very wrong.

"Yeah. Let's just say I'm fed up with overworking for nothing."

"Okay" That he could understand. Still he wanted to be sure. "And there's nothing else going on here?"

Miles looked around checking for anyone who could be able to hear them.

"Maybe Chief got a call from above ordering him to close the case." He whispered. "So don't find troubles on your head and go back to your girlfriend."

"If you say so. Just don't call me again crying how you need me." James said with a fake anger.

"You wish" He snorted back.

"Wait." Miles stopped him when he was opening the door.

"What? You've already missed me?" James asked sarcastically.

"Nope, just got much better idea for our free time." He smiled.

James didn't like that particular smile of him because it almost yelled 'wait for problems'.

"What would it be?" He asked, finally realizing that it was easier to play along than to argue with him.

"You'll introduce me to the Juliet. How about that Chinese place?" Miles suggested.

"Don't push it." James warned him.

"And?" Miles was curious now.

"I should talk with Juliet before. I'll call you."

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**A/N:** I'm here again. Hope it wasn't very long waiting for you. I was going to write Juliet /James but somehow Miles managed to put himself into this story (guilty :)). Do you want to see some of Miles/Juliet interaction?


	8. Don't think now

**A/N: **Thank you fore reading and reviewing. Genco OliveOil, I know I promised some of Miles here but... It started like short shots of Juliet/James fluff and even so I found myself turning that in some kind of plot I still like those little scenes of them simply being together.

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"You're back so soon?" Juliet asked from the kitchen.

James smiled taking in the delicious smell. It felt so right to come home to her preparing the dinner. He could have imagined they still were in their little yellow house if not for the sight out of the window.

"James" She waved her hand in front of his face pulling him out of his reverie.

"It appeared Miles didn't need me there after all." He shrugged not wanting to think about Miles right now. "Which is absolutely fine with me." He murmured hugging her tight and kissing her ear lightly.

"Let me go James" she pulled aside."Unless you want to clean the kitchen after all."

"Mmm about that" He said pulling away reluctantly. "Miles wanted to meet us for a dinner. How do you feel about Chinese?"

"It's okay." She replied not paying much of attention. Then a second later "Wait. Are you talking about tonight?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I'm. But if you don't want to go, I just tell him"

"No, no. It's really okay. It's Miles after all and I want to see him, too."

"Then why such a reaction, Blondie?"

"I" She started then paused confused. "I don't know. I just have that strange feeling that I should be somewhere else or at least have something else to do but I can't remember what exactly."

"You're just too much of a workaholic, sweetheart. You need to relax a little."

He hugged her from behind nuzzling her neck.

"And what do you have in mind, Detective? I'm open to suggestions. " She whispered leaning into him.

"Oh, I have plenty of ideas but what about your cooking here" He said teasingly stepping away from her.

"We're going out for a dinner. No sense in making anything right now." She said determinedly taking the pan off the fire and turning to him. "Now about those ideas of yours."


	9. Foreboding

"Just remember he doesn't know you" James repeated the third time this evening.

"It'll be okay. Don't worry. " She squeezed his hand. "It's strange to have Miles out of our inner circle but it can be changed, I'm sure."

She could understand him to some point. It would have been a torture for her to know James, to remember him, but not be able to talk about their past life because he didn't remember that her. Well in some way that was what had been happening with her and Jack. But considering how short and strictly professional their interaction had become during last year it didn't feel like a change.

"It's not about Miles. Well, it is in some part. Just. I have this strange feeling that something isn't quite right here. You know, with Miles changing his mind about that case so quickly and you not remembering about your possible plans for today."

"We've already discussed that. I was just too used to work all time and Miles had probably thought that surprising you would be the best way to avoid you being angry at him for being pulled to the work for nothing."

"Well, you may be right." He wasn't convinced but she could sense him relax for a bit.

"Of course, I'm. After all he's still alive and even got a dinner out of it." She smiled.

"Shall we go in then, milady?" He asked gallantly opening the door to her. "I'm sure he's already there. Too curious to miss our arrival. " He added quietly.

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**A/N: **No more delay I promise. The next chapter will contain Miles.


	10. Strange dinner

**A/N:** Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Great holidays! my dear readers! Unfortunately my health came in the way so I'm a little late nevertheless this chapter is the longest one in this story and it's my gift to you.

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"Good evening! Nice to meet you! You looks wonderful!"

James nearly choked watching Miles gallantly pulling the chair for Juliet while telling her all those pleasantries. 'What are you trying here Enos' he frowned, recalling too well how his friend hated that 'being a gentleman' thing.

"Thank you" Juliet smiled gracefully.

"How could you hide such a treasure from your old friend?" Miles asked James without even as much as turning away from Juliet.

Okay, James got it. For some messed up reason his friend decided that flirting with his woman right in front of him might be a good idea.

"Well, it took the whole month for you to tell me you've found your true love. Not to mention you'd managed to propose her during that month." James answered in the sweetest tone he could manage.

"Oh, you have a bride, Miles? Or is it already a wife?" Juliet asked cheerfully.

'Just peachy! Now she decided to play along.' James sighed.

"No, we broke apart, but Jim already knew that." He emphasized the last part finally looking at his partner.

"What a pity! What had happened?" Juliet enquired curiously but with enough empathy.

"Nothing that's worth talking about right now" Miles shrugged. "I'm more interested in you and James, how have you met each other?"

"Nothing interesting too" She glanced at James for support. With Miles not remembering them she wasn't sure what exactly James would want to tell him.

"Uh-huh. I want a little more details or you're going to save that for the marriage ceremony?"

James choked by Miles bluntness. He was the only one who knew about his plans to propose and all because he was so nosy. Now Miles didn't even remember that part. Still he managed to sell him out.

"James, are you alright?" Juliet asked worriedly, most likely because of his pale face.

Miles was a dead man after this evening, for sure.

"I'm fine" He muttered hoarsely.

"If you say so" She nodded. "I leave you for a little while, boys. Hope you'll both be okay without me."

She had barely made few steps when James turned to Miles with a murderous look in eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He hissed. "Is it some new game of yours "How far could I push Jim?" 'cause if so I have a game of my own.-

"Cool off, man. I didn't mean any harm." Miles tried to soothe him. "Looks like you really fall for that girl I've never seen you so worked up before."

"That was exactly what I'd said you earlier and you still thought it was a good idea to flirt with her."

"Okay, maybe it didn't look as a good one from your point of view." Miles admitted. "I just wanted to be sure she was the one you deserved and not one of those stupid models you used to pick before."

"And it's your business because?" James was still on edge.

"Because for some unknown reason I give a damn." Miles spat back.

They sat silently for five minutes both dealing with their inner turmoil. Until Miles gave up and broke the silence

"Do you want to tell me where you found her now, when she's not around?" He winked at him and James realized he couldn't keep the angry facade.

"That damn machine took my last dollar without giving anything in exchange. Juliet helped me to get what was mine." He smiled remembering them arguing that being cop didn't allow him to steal bars.

"Romantic as always."Miles laughed expecting some story of love that left them out of breathe instead of having fun with some machine.

"I knew you'd tell him while I was out." Juliet said reprovingly while sitting back.

"You left me with him in the first place" James replied immediately.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here." Miles whined.

They just looked at him with obvious confusion as to what his problem was.

"Never mind" He shrugged.

So if he was honest with himself he wasn't offended at all. Quite opposite, it felt strangely familiar and comfy to sit there watching them sparring with each other, where he couldn't tell was it a fight or a foreplay. It was a really nice feeling after all.


	11. What friends and sisters do

"You shouldn't have given him so hard time about his treatment. He just tried to be nice." Juliet said when they finally left Miles.

Their evening had a very rough start with Miles flirting with her but surprisingly after her return things had changed drastically. James was much more relaxed and Miles just let things go chipping here and there teasing James or calling him on his lie. It wasn't as good as having their Miles around but it was pretty close.

She spent some time during the evening trying to digest what had changed and came to the conclusion that he was a little more open-hearted and a little less bitter. Though the same could have been said about James or her too. It looked like things had gone much better for all of them this time.

"Like hell. He tried to check you."

"Of course, you're his friend after all." Juliet said in that 'it's so obvious' tone she knew he hated so much. "He went pretty easy on you I must say" She added to avoid the tension. The last thing she needed right now was James to be pissed of again.

"Didn't feel that way"

"I assure you, you won't want to meet my sister and her inquiring techniques." She laughed. "Half of my boyfriends left me just because of her."

"Really? Maybe you should introduce us to each other."

As always opened to a challenge or maybe just curious, she couldn't say for sure.

"Maybe I do." She whispered.

No matter what that world was, some kind of reincarnation, dream or purgatory. It still felt good to ponder the idea of her bringing James to Rachel.

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**A/N: **Thank you very much for your reviews. I'd like to answer on each of them but considering it's anonimous all I can do is thank you here. You can't imagine how happy I'm to read аll those nice words. And of course JG, you can translate my story just mention me as an author and maybe give me a reference because it's a honour for me to be translated.


	12. Morning talk

**A/N**: Hello guys! I know it's already busy working days for you with holidays in the past and so on but for me it's just first week (third day) back to work after New Year holidays and it felt like I could use some more time without waking so early in the morning, lol. So I decided to share my misery with James and Juliet and make them work too.

Thank you all for reading, favoriting, following and reviewing, it means a lot and makes me not only continue but write more and faster. So, don't forget to write some words for me before leaving ;)

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"Are you sure we have to do that?"

"James" She glared at him.

"What? If I recall right, you were the one to consider all that mumbo jumbo about the world we're living in now. I'm sorry that I'm not looking forward to let you out of my sight."

"You didn't look at it that way yesterday when you left me to meet Miles at precinct."

"It was different!"

"How exactly?" She arched her brow.

"Well, I was sure you're at home and…"He stopped under her cold look.

"I'm not going sit home while you're running around. If anything I should be the one to keep you away from your dangerous job."

"It was already bad enough that I walked out off my job yesterday without any explanations. I don't want it to become worse. You though can stay at home and cook something." She added more lightly watching with a smile while his expression turned from displeased to guilty than to shocked and returned back to that displeased one.

"Good try with changing subject Blondie but it'll take more than that to con me."

"Still I'm serious about me not staying at home today and you preparing dinner."

He looked at her horrified by the mere idea.

"Well maybe half serious about the last part." Juliet took him of the hook finally.

"Have a good day" She kissed him before walking out of the door.


	13. Surprise, surprise!

**A/N:** Aaaand, as a special treat from me, two chapters in one update. :) Hope you like it.

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Juliet didn't expect anything. She did mean it only as a joke for James to make something. Still she was welcomed by some delicious aroma when she got home after the work. She sneaked into the kitchen to see the most surprising sight in her whole life. James Ford was cooking AND he looked pretty good at it, if the aroma and absence of any burnt goods could be considered signs.

She stayed quiet for some time enjoying watching him. It was absolutely different part of him, the part she didn't know about. He always claimed he didn't do cooking and the only time she made him do something he had burnt half the kitchen. She wasn't sure whether it was one of the changes or he just pretended all the way so not to do anything food related.

"Are you going to stay there forever?" He asked still busy cutting bread.

"May be."

"Oookay"

"I thought you didn't know how to cook." She admitted after a few minutes of silence.

He turned to her with a mischievous smile. "The fact I prefer you here doesn't meant I can't do that myself."

"Point taken"She finally closed the distance between them kissing him softly.

"But why? You do understand now I'm going to make you cook at least half the time, right?"

"What, a man can't do something pleasant for his lady?!"

"Of course he can. But his lady is sure that there's something more."

"Just not my best day." He muttered. "Tried to get my thoughts off that by something different than old TV-shows and booze."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not now. I didn't make all of these for you to be too busy with talking to taste the food."


	14. Not crazy enough

**A/N:** Hello then Juliet Rocks. :) What a pity you have problems with signing here but thank you for all your reviews. I'm glad I managed to answer some of your unasked questions such as James' leaving. And as for the second one, yes, at some moment there will be the church scene for them, just don't expect it soon. There are still some topics to discuss before they can move on. By the way I looked at your blog, can't say I understand much of it but it looks great.

Thank you all my readers I don't know by names. I hope you have a good time reading this story.

* * *

"Dishes are all yours" James said smugly sitting down with his book.

"Not a problem if you're going to cook for me." Juliet shrugged.

"Uh-huh, beauty. Men don't do such things. Not on the daily basis, not ever."

Juliet glared at him while he tried to look self-confident and tough.

"I'm not telling Miles, don't worry." She said retrieving to the kitchen.

"Why should I worry about that? " James yelled back but Juliet only smiled at that attempt.

* * *

Half an hour later she finished with her washing duties only to find James on the couch with his book still closed in his hands.

"Time to talk" She said quietly settling down with him immediately wrapping her in his arms.

"I think you're right" James said after some time. "Even if I didn't want you to be."

Juliet was confused by that start but decided against asking anything about that 'being right' thing. She'd have her time later. For now she chose to ask simple questions such as

"Was it because of something on your work?"

"Yes and no"

James had never been so elusive. Juliet started wondering what could have happened for him to act so strangely. Maybe it wasn't him but his copy; one couldn't eliminate any possibilities in such a crazy world.

"I mean. It isn't any crime or something but" He paused. "I don't even know how to explain that. It's just I suddenly felt absolutely out of place there, like the life was going on without me. You think I'm crazy?"

His admission made Juliet froze. She had been trying for the whole day to assure herself she had had nothing to worry about.

"Then we both are." She whispered.

"What?" James pulled away to look at her.

"I thought it was nothing but coincidences. First I came today to find out Jennie was forcing to come from her leave as my substitute. But no one could tell why exactly they had thought I wouldn't be there myself. I wrote it out on my disappearance yesterday and we just laughed together and moved on but"

"But it wasn't the end of it. The whole day you were feeling like an outsider because instead of leaving you to do your job everybody were trying to do that for you like you weren't there at all." James finished for her.

"Exactly" Juliet nodded. "Do you think it's happening because we got our memories back?"

"I don't know. The only way to know for sure is to compare our experience with somebody else. The problem is the only people I'm sure about are our Korean lovebirds and I don't think they had plenty of acquaintances here in the first place."

"Maybe it's time for us to look for others and to find out what's happening with us for sure?!" Juliet suggested carefully. The last time they had been discussing that topic they ended in a fight with James moping about her and Jack having son.

"David!" She muttered with a sudden shock.

"You think we have to start with your son? Why?" James was a little confused.

"No, not that. David. He's the thing I forgot to do yesterday. I had to get him from his father's place. I…" She choked. "How could I forget about my son?"

"Jules." James tried but she was already on her feet.

"Why didn't Jack at least call me?" She was angry now. "If that's his plan to win him back."

"Hey, hey. Don't become fury on me." He grabbed her arm to stop her frantic movements.

"Firstly, he's with his father who's a responsible and trustworthy man even if I hate to admit that. So there's nothing for you to worry about. Secondly, you need to calm down, so you won't scare the boy away the second you see him."

"Okay. You're right. Sorry." She took few deep breathes to calm herself. "I just can't understand how could I forget?"

"It works both ways." James mumbled deep in thoughts.

"No, it's not uncommon for Jack to forget such things." She frowned but James stopped her.

"I'm not interested in Jackass right now. I'm talking about that strange thing with being left behind. Maybe it works both ways. Maybe we're starting to lose interest in this life too. So we can leave it behind."

"No, it can't be true. How can I leave David?"

"You've already done that in some way. You just need to realize that."

"No. There's nothing to realize. I'm not leaving him because of you and your strange ideas." She pushed past him, grab her coat and left.

"What a nice way to end the evening. Thank you very much Jack." James muttered looking at the now closed door.


	15. A plan for tomorrow

It was already past midnight and James tried his best not to worry over Juliet's absence. He understood that it was a hard decision for her and she needed her time to come to peace with all these things. After all it wasn't easy for him to watch Miles slowly drifting away from him, either, and he was just his friend not a family member, not his kid. He remembered how it felt for him to give up the hope to see Clem again (or for the first time in his case) and he wish Juliet wouldn't have had to face such a thing. But David didn't belong there and they didn't belong here, no matter what that 'here' was and she had to understand that.

All James could do for now was waiting for her to return and in the mean time trying to understand their present predicament and what that meant for their future.

"As if all that time traveling shit wasn't already enough" He muttered once again trying to solve the puzzle he had on his hands.

Two set of memories. One death. Feeling of disappearance from other's lives.

It had given him only huge headache without any real answer. Looked like he had to wait for Juliet and see what she could get out of that. After all she was a brainiac in their family while he preferred to act instead of thinking and researching. Maybe it was what he should have done now, stop waiting and start looking for others with memories of the Island. But where should he start? It could be any of plane crash survivors, people from freighter or worse Others. Should he start to look for his friends or his enemies?

"What a good thing, I'm a cop here. " He smiled in anticipation.

James grabbed a paper and wrote out all names he could remember. It shouldn't be hard enough to find them on the condition they hadn't changed their names and he doubted the majority of them had any reasons for that. Only criminals would choose to do that and there weren't so much of them on his list, sans commandos of course. And Kate.

"Shit!"

Kate was the one he had arrested that day. Then there was Sayid. Maybe he shouldn't have left criminals out of the plate yet. And why the hell hadn't he thought about them before? Was it one more effect of this crazy world or just his own stupidity?! There were too many questions for his liking and he was going to change that. If he was fortunate Juliet would join him soon enough.

James was still worried out of his mind for her being there somewhere on her own but now he had a plan for tomorrow and it felt good.

* * *

**A/N:** Now I'm really going somewhere with this story instead of just picturing what that could be for James and Juliet. Though it doesn't mean there won't be short fluffy chapters anymore.

GencoOliveOil. I think you can see where it's leading ;) After all both of them aren't past their insecurities and you need to leave everything aside before moving on.

Juliet Rocks, I hope he won't be that big of a problem, but I think he deserved to be mentioned. After all it can't be that easy for her to throw everything away just because.


	16. Point of no return

James woke up to find Juliet sitting on the chair in front of him. He couldn't even remember when he fell asleep yesterday; he had been sitting on the couch thinking, waiting and then...

"Good morning" He said carefully not sure what to make from her silence.

She didn't move a bit as if she hadn't heard him. James debated for some time to confront her and ask what had she been doing previous night but decided against it. If she needed her time to think she would have her time to think. He just hoped it wouldn't end up as bad as the last time he trusted her to come to him if she had questions.

"I'm going to work. Do you need anything?" He asked not having strength to just walk out on her in that state.

"Nothing. Thank you." She answered him almost immediately which meant she did pay some attention after all. That was at least a partial relief.

"Okay. Then see you later." He kissed her on the cheek and left her to be.

* * *

He wasn't going to work the whole day, just long enough to get all the information he needed. There were some benefits in having no one on the work to care about your presence. Then maybe Juliet would become normal again so they could meet with people from their past together. Maybe not with Kate though and not with Ben and not with some of survivors who could remember her only as an enemy. Well, maybe it wasn't that bad she was still out of it from the look of the things.

"I see you're deep into work." Miles teased him.

Okay, there still was the one person to give a damn about his actions and surprisingly it didn't make him feel any better. He was so used to Miles being there for him and now it did hurt to do things without his partner.

"Well, someone has to catch those fugitives 'cause marshals aren't very goon at doing that."

"You decide that should be we to do the job?" Miles asked incredulously. "Damn, who are you and what have you done with Jim-lazy ass-Ford?"

"Shut up."James muttered frowning at how close Miles had hit. He really wasn't that Jim anymore.

* * *

**A/N:** Was James really going to meet with Kate without telling Juliet first? Was she going to go with his ideas and forget about her life here? Have any more questions, feel free to tell me ;)

Hope you have a good time reading. Don't forget to review, so I know you're with me.


	17. Juliet

Juliet watched silently as James walked out of the door. She knew it wasn't fair to him for her being so aloof but she couldn't help herself. Some part of her was still fighting for the life she had had before meeting James. Her sister was healthy happy and just in a phone call length from her. She had David, her son, her beloved boy. Her work was wonderful, she had been helping women giving birth instead of watching them dying. It was all so perfect she remembered how she hadn't believed her lucky and now she had had to give up on that life. Of course on the other side was James, her Prince Charming but that somehow didn't make the choice easier. Being with the man she loved but with some fuzzy future or being without her soul mate but with her friends and family and work. She didn't know what to choose. But for better or for worse she had no choice there. It looked like she was already doomed to be pushed out of that perfect life.

The night before she had been so shocked she totally forgot about her son that she hadn't even stopped to think before driving toward Jack's place. But when she got there it didn't look as good idea as she thought. Still she decided to go through it at least if only to prove her point to James. He had no rights forcing her to make a decision.

_"Juliet" Jack opened the door surprised by her presence. "How are you? Is everything alright?"_

_He didn't look even a little ashamed by not bringing David back to her._

_"Jack. Where's David?" She was still fuming._

_"Umm, he's in the kitchen. Why? We were going to make pizza." Jack was confused and she herself started to doubt whether she really had any reason to come here._

_"Mom" David appeared in the hall. "What are you doing here?"_

_One more shocked face and Juliet was really worried about her sanity. Jack could forget things but David couldn't._

_"Just wanted to see how are you guys doing? Maybe even taste your pizza." She tried to sound as lightly as possible._

_"Great!" David lit up at the mere thought of his parents spending the whole evening with him._

_She sat there watching them laughing and playing with food, adding comments from time to time but mostly looking at them and trying to decipher her own emotions. She felt strangely out of place here. As if she wasn't relative to them, as if she was Juliet Burke while they were expecting Juliet Shephard._

_"Are you going to stay for night?" Jack asked politely._

_"No thanks. I've had enough fun for tonight." She declined desperately needing time to accept everything. "Don't stay for too long" She said to David before letting herself out of the house._

_She drove away not thinking about her final destination too engulfed in her thoughts about last few days._

_Jack and his sister who, no surprise there, was Claire. _

_Sun and Jin learning about their baby. _

_It looked like everyone was still presented in lives of their important ones._

_And James. _

_He appeared and she forgot about everything else. Maybe that was supposed to be, maybe he was her fate and she just waited for him here._

_Waited for him to die in the real world, she thought bitterly. She had had to wait him here while he had had to live without her there. All because she couldn't move on and forget about the past._

_Juliet came home to find James asleep on the couch. He was so cute with his glasses slipping to the side. She took them away carefully so not to wake him up. She still wasn't ready to talk so she just sat there looking at him and pondering about what if she met him simply as Juliet Shephard without any burdens or deaths._

She could sit there forever feeling sorry for herself because of the life she didn't have. But if she was honest with herself she could find a new work, no matter where she would end up, and David was pretty happy to stay with his father. The only thing she couldn't replace in her life was James and she had already wasted enough time and opportunities while grieving about the past. It was time for her to move on, to believe in them like he believed the whole time.

"Hello" She called him hoping he wasn't too busy. "Do you have time for lunch with me?"

"Always my greasy monkey"

She smiled at the phone in her hands. That was their usual exchange while living in Dharma.


	18. First step together

**A/N:** I know it has been some time from the last update. But no matter what I'm not going to abandon this story, don't worry.

* * *

"Hi there, stranger" Juliet greeted James when he finally arrived.

"Hello to you too, sweetheart." He answered kissing her before sitting down. "You're in pretty good mood today."

"I have lunch with my boyfriend. Why shouldn't I be in a good mood?" She arched her brow. Well, she had very good idea why exactly, after the scene between them yesterday, but that wasn't conversation to have in a public place.

"No reasons, I can think of." James smirked deciding to enjoy the lunch even if it was the peace before the storm.

"Busy day at the precinct?" She asked while they were waiting for the food to arrive.

"No more than usually." He answered with a confused expression and then realized she probably got that from his lateness.

"By the way sorry for being late, I forgot about time with all these fugitives and federals that aren't doing their damn job." He muttered. He really didn't think there would be so many obstacles to find someone that should be found. But it looked like people around him didn't think that Iraqi terrorist escaping the prison was bad enough to do anything at all.

"Should it be you to do the whole job? Just yesterday you told me there was nothing for you to do."

"Well, no, it shouldn't be necessary me. Miles asked me the exact same question. But who the hell if not me? And by the way I don't think they can manage Sayid all that good."

"Sayid. He's the one you're trying to catch." Juliet was shocked by that piece of information. Even with all those conversations about the Island and other survivors she didn't expect any of them to pop up so quickly. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"For one, because I decided to look for him only today, tonight to be more exact." He added watching her carefully.

"I see." Looked like her plan to avoid the topic failed miserably.

"Look, Jules, we don't have to discuss the whole thing if you don't want to. I just thought it could be useful to find the rest of survivors so we could compare our experience here. But I can do it myself. I understand your point and " He didn't know what 'and' really, just that he wasn't going to leave her, no matter what.

"No, no. It's okay. I think it's a good idea where to start from. What do you think about sharing the job with me?" She smiled.

"It'd be great" James was so obviously relieved by her reaction. It was almost painful for her to see how happy he was simply because she agreed to help him with his plan. She once again promised herself not to hurt him again because of her past fears.

"Then give me the list. I'm sure you made one." He tried to play dumb but she simply waited for him to give up the act. She knew too well how he operated after all those late nights she had to watch him digesting through Dharma protocols.

"Okay, you caught me."


	19. Division of labor

"Do you want me to help you with Sayid or should I work with someone else?" Juliet asked after studying the list for few minutes.

James did a very good job with it, enlisting not only survivors from Oceanic but also freighter's crew and even some of Others, though the idea of Ben being here scared the hell out of Juliet, especially if he had his memories back.

"No, I definitely don't want you anywhere near Ali" James answered immediately. "Who knows what he's capable of, especially if he doesn't remember?!"

"I can handle him." Juliet argued. She knew he merely tried to protect her still some part of her wasn't okay with being kept behind. "If I recall right you didn't have problems with forcing Sayid on me last time."

She winced the second she said it. What was happening with her? She shouldn't have said this to him, not after all he'd been through.

"Fair. Well, I won't make the same mistake twice." James answered simply pretending to ignore the painful jab.

"James" She tried.

"No, you're right." He stopped her. "I wish I could change a lot of things I had done in the past. But all I can do now is not to repeat them." He smiled at her and took her hand. "No need to look back when there's so much ahead for us, right?"

"Right." She nodded looking at him with even more love.

When did he change so much? She never bought that mask of dumb redneck. But this man in front of her, he had some wisdom in his eyes, the kind that could come only with a lot of experience and she once again wondered what happened to him after her death, what could change him.

"I know you hate doing nothing." James said winking at her, she wasn't the only one with a knowledge here. "So I suggest you to start with persons you have the easiest access. We already know that Kwons have their memories back, while Miles don't. What about Jack?"

Somehow he felt insecure talking about Jack. In his mind he knew that she was with him now and Jack meant nothing to her. Still all women liked doctors, right? And he was the father of her son, the one she didn't want to leave behind just yesterday.

"I don't think he remember anything. I saw him yesterday there was no recognition in his eyes well, except for me being his ex."

James studied her carefully looking for any hint of sadness because of Jack's lack of memories but there wasn't any.

"Okay, who else could you approach without raising suspicions?"

"I don't know." Juliet once again looked at the list. "Probably John, if he has the same health problems this time." She paused. "And Claire, she's pregnant and to top it, she's Jack's sister. Shouldn't be hard to get her open up to me. Also Ethan, he's one of my colleagues."

"Huh, looks like you already have enough on your plate."

"Not that you're any different with Sayid. And probably Ana Lucia is still a cop."

"You really want for me to meet with that psycho?" James whined.

"Didn't know you have problems with her either. You're such a gentleman James." Juliet chuckled.

"Yeah, whatever." He frowned. "Definitely hope for her not remembering me."

"It's the rest I'm more worried about. How do we get to them?"

"We'll worry about that later. For now we have our aims. Then maybe new possibilities will appear." He murmured.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just that it's a very strange world. You know with you and Jack."

"But we knew each other before. Me and Miles THAT would be strange." Juliet joked still feeling his uneasiness.

"Not in his mind." James smiled back. "Though it's definitely a strange world. Miles forced me to go on a blind date with Charlotte, could you imagine that?"

"Really? And you're still alive?"

It did sound hilarious, knowing how those two hated each other.

"Not from her lack of trying."

They laughed together.

"Okay, I should go back to work if I want to find anything." James eventually stood up.

"Guess I can visit my place of work too." She nodded looking at his retrieving back.

Strangely but the one name she expected to hear from him didn't pop up at all. The only fugitive among survivors, the one he as a cop should have been interested in, Kate Austen.

* * *

**A/N:** Hello guys! Sorry for the delay but my muse left me and when it finally came back, well, as you can see, she's in more angsty mood now. Anyway waiting for you to read and review. You know how much it means to me, right? :)


	20. Back to work

**A/N:** I know it was a long hiatus but I'm back with renewed inspiration, thanks to karivalentina. Our talk helped me a lot and here's my thanks in form of some Miles for you ;)

Here's the new chapter. Enjoy and review.

* * *

"Hey, look who's back. Our workaholic" Miles cheered. "Have you caught anyone already?"

"Of course" James said marching toward his table and not looking at Miles at all.

Three… two… one…

"Whom?" Miles exclaimed.

"You"

"What?" Miles paused then frowned at James. "Oh, very funny."

"It is" James smirked. "Now let's go back to the work." He added seriously.

"What makes you think I'm going to help bastard like you?" Miles muttered still pouting.

"You're still my partner so you're stuck with me here Enos."

"Yeah, poor me." Miles sighed overdramatically.

"As if you have something more interesting to do." James enjoyed their bantering ignoring the thought of him having to leave Miles behind at some point.

"I could have" Miles snapped back but gave up. "Who are we looking for?"

"I mean who's our first priority of the two" He corrected himself at James 'really?' look.

"Jarrah. He's greater evil than Austen plus I won't have to deal with that annoying Marshal."

"Damn right" Miles nodded having his fair share of that guy.

"I've managed to narrow the list of officers having the access to them to three people." James shared the results of his morning. "Excluding federals for now."

"You really think one of us helped them escape?!"

"Occam's razor" James nodded.

"What razor?"

"Oh, come on. We already had that talk." James sighed before he could catch himself. They did have the talk just not in this timeline.

"It says that the simplest explanation is the true one." He said hoping for Miles not to notice his slip up.

"And it's you simplest explanation?!" Miles huffed. "Okay, who should we bring out into the open?"

"We have three candidates." James started. "Jeffreys, Cortez and Stanhope."

"The most boring guy, the smuggest girl and the one we have no real knowledge about except for him being previously a soldier. What a way to start the day."

"Well, sorry to upset you Princess but we don't choose our suspects. You can have Cortez if you want while I deal with guys."

"Nice try Ford, but no way I'm going near that woman ever again and you know that."

"Then Jeffreys and Stanhope are all yours." James shrugged.

Truthfully he wasn't keen on meeting Ana-Lucia either with what he learned from Miles together with his own experience from the Island. But the work should have been done and it better been him to confront her. Especially considering he had the feeling she was the one.

"Good luck there man. You were a good partner."

"Don't think you can rid of me that easily Ghost talker."

It was one of their internal jokes from before, with him always finding problems on his ass as Head of security and Miles complaining that he hears him enough to not want listening to his rumblings from six feet under.

"What?" But that wasn't his Miles, so he didn't understand. "Do you think it's not enough for me to handle you now?" Or maybe he did.

James looked at his friend more closely. Was there the chance for Miles to get his memory back?


	21. Of mice and men

"Hello Dr. Shephard. What can I do for you?" The nurse smiled at her. She was a good girl eager to help people.

"Hello, Rosy." Juliet smiled back. "I was asked to keep an eye on few patients."

"I see." The girl nodded turning to the computer immediately. "Tell me their names."

"Littleton" Juliet started with Claire as a sure one but was surprised to learn that Claire had been released by Ethan. On an afterthought though, maybe she shouldn't have with half a week passed after her giving birth to Aaron. Still she had reason to engage Ethan into conversation and that was definitely a pro of the situation.

"Anyone else?" Rosy asked bringing Juliet back from her thoughts.

"Yes, two more." Juliet nodded. "Kwon and Locke." She didn't have to look for Sun to know that she got her memories back but she wanted to check her one more time to be sure there wouldn't be any complications. No matter the strange world they were in, she was still a doctor and Sun was her patient and friend.

"I know that Ms Kwon had been discharged too. But I have her test results for few days now and I'd be glad for some contact information of hers."

"Unfortunately, there's not so much I can tell you. She only left her phone number."

"That's a start." Juliet smiled reassuringly.

"As for the last one." Rosy paused frowning at the screen.

Juliet expected to hear that there was no such a patient. After all it was just a random shot from her part.

"The only person with that last name is Mr. Locke with spine problems."

Juliet couldn't believe her luck. John was here.

"That's him, thank you." She got a strange look from Rosy that made her clarified. "He's Jack… Dr. Shephard's patient. I'm just checking for him."

"Oh, I see." The girl laughed with obvious relief. "I feared you're going to talk about male pregnancy."

"Only if we're talking about mice." Juliet laughed at the irony here. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to check our non pregnant male patient."

"Of course" Rosy nodded still giggling.


	22. Eyes of fate

"Good afternoon, Mr. Locke" Juliet greeted the old man politely.

She had mixed feelings to him. On one hand this was the man who saved them from all those flashes, simply one more victim of the Island. On the other hand that same man destroyed the sub and with that her chance to get her old life back. The fact that he had been paralyzed again faded in comparison.

"Hello." He answered somewhat cautiously. "Are you my new doctor?"

"No. I mean I'm a doctor, Juliet Shephard, just not yours." She explained with a slight pause before her surname. It still felt natural to call herself Shephard but now some part of her remembered about the time she'd been Burke.

"Shephard? But I thought…" He stopped with confused expression. "There was that man, Jack Shephard. He tried to persuade me to go under surgery."

"Really? Then I think you should do that." Juliet was surprised to learn that Jack tried to fix Locke. She didn't think much about Rosy words of spine problems. But now that she paid attention it looked strange. She'd thought his health problems would be with him from the beginning in this world.

"You mean he wasn't my hallucination."

"What? Oh, of course not. He's a real person, such as I am."

"Good, good. I was afraid it was because of the concussion."

"I can check if you want." Juliet bent to him.

"Nope, everything is okay." She smiled at him hoping that it looked natural enough. "May I ask how you ended up here with concussion and your back…" She let the question hang in the air.

"Got into the accident. Though, it's not that I didn't have problems before." Locke shrugged. "I'd not have been here if not for Mr. Linus concern."

"He was the one who tend to me right after, a teacher in the school I worked as a substitute." He clarified seeing how her expression changed at the mention of new name. "He's a good man, caring about people around him and especially about children. I'd know with all my experience of people being ignorant and all."

"Well, it's good that you have such a good colleague." Juliet stood up. "However maybe you won't need to look for such understanding people any longer. Jack suggesting you the surgery means there's a chance for you to" She almost said 'walk again' but she couldn't have known that about him. "get your health back again." She finished.

"Thank you, but I stopped believing in miracles long ago. Tell Dr. Shephard my answer is still no, no matter how many his colleagues he's going to send here."

Juliet started arguing that she wasn't here because of Jack but then why she was. The man obviously didn't remember anything or he would be only happy to go on with the surgery. So it would be better to leave him to his own ideas.

"I'll tell him but you're making a mistake here. Who knows maybe it was your fate to get into accident, be brought here and meet Jack."

She didn't know why she said that but somehow she felt like she owed him at least that much.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, the story's becoming more and more about not only my favorite pair but other characters and with that come few more questions I had and some points of season 6. About Locke and Ben and those who should be in the world but we haven't seen them. And of course I'm always glad to hear your opinions, questions and suggestions.


	23. Not to be Sisyphus

**A/N:** I know it has been a long wait once again, so two chapters in one update.

* * *

"What do you mean you haven't seen her yet?" Miles yelled indignantly.

"I spend the whole two hours, think about it, T-W-O damn H-O-U-R-S, listening about the importance of reports and how it can be life or death situation if I wrote approximately at 9 o'clock instead of at 9:07. Can you imagine how it felt like?" Miles was too angry to stay quiet. "And on top of that I had to play mind games with that Stanhope guy who couldn't answer even the simplest question without turning it against me as if he was some kind of spy. Like asking him what do you think about the weather and getting back between lines something like 'I'm not going to answer your question in fear that you can deduce where I came from out of my answer'. And my partner, the one who got me into this, did nothing. What the fuck, Ford?"

Miles looked like he was only one step from killing him so James decided it was time to stop fun and pacify him a little.

"Well, you were the one who was afraid to lose me to that girl. How could I leave you alone? Especially if there was a chance for you to find our dirty cop without me going anywhere near her."

Well, to be honest, at first James was determined to meet Ana-Lucia like they had planned. But the moment he caught sight of her he knew he couldn't do that. Not when all he could see was her corpse in that damn bunker.

"You mean you weren't going to meet her in the first place? And still you let me took those two?" Miles looked at him with shocked expression. "You conned me, you bastard. You bloody conned me."

"On the bright side, now we know that she's the one. So we're one step closer to catch our fugitives and it's all because of you."

"Nah-ah. Stop this bullshit. I'm not one of your girls who are ready to do anything just for you calling them pretty. No matter how important you'll say I'm, I'm not going anywhere near her. I'm staying here and you can bloody do your work yourself."

"As you wish. But that way it'll be hard for me to explain in the report what'd been your part in the end."

No, Miles was determined not to let Jim do that again. The bastard spent too much time pretending to be a conman. But that meant all those hours could be for nothing and he didn't like that idea.

"Shit! Okay, I'm going. But I hate you, really, really hate you." Miles muttered giving up finally.

James smiled inwardly; it was too much fun teasing Miles. He did hope Miles would get his memories soon, because he hated the idea of leaving him behind.


	24. Second chances

James came home singing a tune. It hadn't been his easiest day but he was now one step closer to finding Kate and Sayid and it meant that he was closer to understand what the hell was going on. Another good thing about that day was Miles' reactions. It was almost like the man subconsciously remembered their previous live.

"Honey, I'm home." He knew she was home since he had seen her car parked outside but he was greeted with silence.

"Jules, where're you baby? You playing hide and seek?" He was still in good mood though it was slowly deteriorating.

He found her in the bedroom sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed and staring blankly at the wall.

"Hey, Blondie" He whispered softly sitting carefully beside her as to not startle her.

She turned to him finally right before he was going to try something else. He could see that she'd been crying.

"What's going on?" He asked worried wondering what could have happened since their lunch together to get her in that state of mind.

"Have you thought about who you could meet here?" She asked all of a sudden. "I mean not just those people you'd want to see again or the ones you put on that list. But what about all those people you never gave a second thought in your previous life or those you'd never want to see again."

"Most of folks I'd never want to see again I already put behind the bars this time around." James knew it wasn't the right moment to joke but there wasn't much he could say to her. She was already depressed enough to hear something like 'why should my parents still be dead while such bastards like Gibbs got a second chance.'

"I don't know what this place is? Or even is it a real place at all? But somehow we're feeling alive again and that means our enemies are alive too, right?" Juliet looked at him sadly. "What if those who shot Sun weren't strangers but people from our past? What if they didn't change? Or what if some of us changed too much becoming dangerous? "

"What is this all about Juliet? Why are you suddenly wondering about all what ifs?" James asked taking her hands in his.

"I've met John Locke today. He was hit by a car."

"Okay. A lot of accidents around us but…" He didn't finish his sentence because of her quiet whisper.

"He was brought in by Benjamin Linus."


	25. Can't lose you

"Son of a bitch" James muttered.

He couldn't believe that the bastard was still somewhere around. No way was he going to let him anywhere near his Juliet, not now that he got her back. He'd kill him if necessary.

One single look at her and he knew that his anger wouldn't get him anywhere. She was already on the edge even without him yelling. What she really needed right now was his support and understanding.

"What do you want from me to do? I could check on him and find out what he's up to in this world." James suggested calmly but it had almost the opposite effect.

"No" Juliet cried. "Please, James, I don't want you near him."

"I'm not going to meet him, just learn a little more about him. I'm a cop after all."

"As if I don't remember how it had been with you being head of security back there… It wasn't that safe of a job." Juliet stated coldly.

He knew that distant cold look that reminded him of her time as an Other too well. It was her defense mechanism, but he'd be damn if he let it happen now. He learned his lesson and now if they have a problem, any problem they are talking about it, no more sudden changing of heart, no more of their misunderstanding each other.

"There are no safe jobs out there, Jules. When you think about it, any of us can get killed any day just walking down the street."

"So it's okay for you to risk your life more than it's necessary?!"

She knew she was being unfair. But it felt like she'd been alone her whole life. Even with David and Jack she never had that feeling of togetherness she had now with James and she couldn't risk it. She couldn't bear to lose him again. The words "I'd rather never meet you than lose you" were still true for her.

"I just can't survive without you" She whispered quietly. She didn't want him to hear that, didn't want to be an overprotective kind of a girlfriend but she couldn't help herself not now not with Benjamin Linus in this world.

"I'm with you. I'm not going anywhere. And I won't let you go anywhere. You'd better remember that. The whole world and damn Linus would better remember that because that's how it will be from now on." James said to her with such determination that she really believed he could change all rules in the world just to make that happen.

"But you still want to learn more about him?!" She smiled sadly though much calmer this time.

"If anything we have to be ready." He nodded. "And Ben wasn't the only evil there. I think I gonna have a talk with Jinbo about those shooters. Maybe you're right and they are from the Island too."

"But you promise to be careful?"

"Always"

She could only smile at his bravado, always so brave and full of hope. As if she hadn't been there all those times things went out of control.

"Well, at least you still have Miles to help you keep your cool."

"Hey you're supposed to be on my side."

"And I am by encouraging him to kick some sense into your head." She teased him enjoying his pouted expression and letting herself forget about her worries for the rest of the evening.

* * *

**A/N:** First of all I have to thank karivalentina for her help with the chapters. I added some parts due to our discussion, hope you like it. Second, I'm glad to see there are still people invested in LOST enough, thank all of you for reading my story, hope you're enjoying it. I'll be even more happy if you leave a reaview. ;)


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